Number of the Day: 500 Million

Between now and 2050, India’s population is expected to grow to 1.7 billion, and its cities will add more than 900 million. It’s a dramatic and rapid change for the country, one that will bring significant physical strains. To accommodate this influx, the country will need to greatly increase its housing stock. According to a new report from the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce, upwards of half a billion Indians will need housing in the country’s cities within the next decade.

Meeting this demand will require not only new housing, but also significant civic infrastructure. The report argues that what currently exists is insufficient to handle that kind of growth.

City capacity will need to grow nearly 400 per cent in less than 50 years. This is the scale of urbanisation and urban infrastructure needs India has to contend with in the face of grossly inadequate urban infrastructure to meet the demands of the existing urban population.

As this article from The Times of India notes, the country will likely have to dramatically revamp its planning and development practices to streamline the creation of this housing and urban infrastructure. And with half a billion Indians urbanizing in the next decade, they’ll have to get to work fast.